We at Otsego 2000 applaud the progress that has been made at local, state, and federal levels with regard to clean, renewable, and carbon-free energy production and we hope that this is only the beginning for serious, thoughtful, and timely policies to protect our environment.
At the local level, leaders in Cooperstown have contracted with solar power producers in the North Country region to offset 100 percent of the electrical demand for municipal buildings in Cooperstown, with production likely by 2023 and with a price tag favorable to the village. Not only did the village make this commitment to a renewable source of energy, but they performed due diligence by investigating the solar contractor and assuring themselves that prime agricultural land use was respected. Secondly, the Village of Cooperstown has installed EV chargers in the Doubleday parking lot, and heat pumps, LED lighting, and improved insulation in village buildings. We are aware that other municipalities and towns have been considering adoption of similar policies. We strongly encourage our county, town and municipal leaders to move expeditiously in this direction.
A little over a year ago The Freeman’s Journal put forth an editorial on the subject of electric vehicle chargers, which were at the time pretty scarce within the Village and, in fact, even outside the Village. The reason we explored the local availability of these chargers was, of course, that our tiny historic Village has been, and is, the destination of myriad urban baseball, sports, scenic and music explorers whose mode of transportation to Cooperstown is increasingly an electric or hybrid vehicle. We know this because there are signs of them throughout the Village, many of them silently sitting with silently draining batteries in the parking lots of the hotels, museums and baseball parks.
This is an Ideal Shield electric-car charger, similar to one ordered for the Dietz Street lot.
ONEONTA – Looking for a “Clean Energy Communities” designation, a ChargePoint Level 2 electric vehicle (EV) charging station has been added to the Dietz Street parking lot.
“Over the last two years, there was a joint effort among City departments and the Council to takes steps to earn the Clean Energy Communities designation,” said Council member Melissa Nicosia, Second Ward. “I am proud to have been a part of being able to complete this initiative. Clean Energy can only benefit our community in the future.”
The EV charging station is a pier-mounted console which will allow EV drivers to recharge their batteries over time.
